Primanti Bros. started in 1933 during the Great Depression.  Joe Primanti had a sandwich cart that was successful enough to turn into a storefront feeding shift workers and truck drivers.  Their signature is potato fries on the sandwich.  The story is that someone came to the restaurant during the winter with a load of potatoes.  He was concerned if they were frozen but when cooked on the grill they were fine.  As other customers came in they wanted some so Joe put them on the sandwich and it was a hit.  It allowed the drivers to eat with one hand while they drove.   They now have 40 restaurants in over 6 states.  We tried to hit the original location of this Pittsburgh icon.  It is definitely worth trying and they are open daily 8 am – 10 pm and even later on Fri and Sat. The interesting thing was their menu had no prices and the drink menu on the table didn’t either.  You can order extra meat or cheese on your sandwich but then I heard another patron asking how much and the server had to go to the register to check.   On the website, most of the sandwiches are around $9 with $2 for extra meat/cheese.  Service was super friendly and the place has murals you could study while you wait a short time for your order.  They also had a full bar and several options for draft beer, which is what I tried. Continue reading →